AGARTALA, July 3: BJP MLA Kishor Barman on Thursday took oath as a cabinet minister in Tripura.
The 44-year-old MLA of Nalchar constituency in Sepahijala district was administered the oath of office by Governor N Indrasena Reddy at Raj Bhavan.
With the induction of the new minister, the strength of the cabinet of Chief Minister Manik Saha rose to 12.
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In the 12-member cabinet, the BJP has now nine members, including the chief minister, while the Tipra Motha Party (TMP) has two ministers and the Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura (IPFT) one.
Saha and his cabinet colleagues from the BJP were present during the swearing-in, but there was no representative from its allies, the TMP and IPFT.
MLAs from the opposition CPI(M) and Congress were also not present.
“I welcome MLA Kishor Barman into the cabinet. We are all trying to make ‘Ek Tripura, Shrestha Tripura’ (One Tripura, Best Tripura) and I hope the newly inducted minister will be part of this process,” Saha told reporters.
Asked about the allocation of the portfolio to the new minister, Saha said, “This will be done in due course of time”.
When asked about the stalemate in the election of the state party president, the chief minister said the BJP, being a disciplined party, will take a final call in an appropriate manner and at an appropriate time.
Barman thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP general secretary B L Santosh and Chief Minister Manik Saha for making him a cabinet minister of the northeastern state.
“I had no discussion with the chief minister regarding my portfolio. Being a disciplined karyakarta (worker), I had done whatever task was given to me by the party and will continue to so,” Barman, who had spent a considerable time in West Bengal for boosting the party organisation, told reporters.
Barman returned to Tripura in 2021 and was appointed the party’s state general secretary. He fought the assembly elections in 2023 and won by a comprehensive margin from Nalchar assembly constituency in Sepahijala district. (PTI)
